Office of the Military Government for Germany (United States); Restitution Claims. 1946-1950 Bulk date: 1948

The collection consists of restitution claims submitted to OMGUS, the Office of the Military Government for Germany (United States), which administered the United States occupation zone and the U.S. Berlin sector during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II. Restitution claims routinely originated with the Military Mission that represented the county from which property was looted, stolen or destroyed under German occupation during World War II. These cases were forwarded to OMGUS for investigation and resolution.The Office of the Military Government for Germany (United States) (OMGUS) functioned as part of the United States arm of the Allied Control Authority and administered the United States occupation zone and the U.S. Berlin sector of occupied Germany after World War II. OMGUS was established by order of United States Forces, European Theater of Operations (USFET) in 1945. With the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, OMGUS was formally abolished by order of US European Command, and the Restitution and Reparations Branch was dissolved. As OMGUS was being abolished gradually, some of its functions were transferred to organs of the United States High Commissioner for Germany.The Restitution and Reparations Branch of OMGUS created policies and procedures, located and returned property to the countries from which claimed property had been looted during World War II. Restitution claims routinely came from the Military Mission that represented the country from which property was looted, and those claims were forwarded to OMGUS Economics Division. Claims were administered by the Restitution Control Branch which oversaw the identification, storage and transport of claimed property. OMGUS officials investigated claims, traced the property, and either resolved or dropped cases. In some cases, property was located and returned to claimants. Some cases were dropped if OMGUS determined that property was destroyed or if OMGUS traced property to other Allied Sectors where the United States had no authority to retrieve property (Source: National Archives and Records Administration.)The collection was transferred from the National Archives and Records Administration to the Leo Baeck Institute in 1981.list in fileProcesseddigitize